November 3, Luke 19:1-10

Transcription

1 November 3, 2013 HPMF Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus revisited Luke 19:1-10 Narrator: He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up Jesus: Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today. Narrator: So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, All: He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner. Narrator: Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, Zacchaeus: Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much. Jesus: Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.

2 Here are some various Christian depictions of Zacchaeus, one of the more famous stories of the New Testament. In this first one, an Eastern Orthodox icon-style painting, we see the small stature of Zacchaeus he looks sort of Hobbit-like here in his proportions to the Jesus and the others. -Next, an African version, how this might have looked in their context. You notice that Jesus is wearing red robes instead of the European white robes that we usually have him in. -A Chinese version, this one a little harder to see, but we again see how this story might have taken shape in an Asian context. -Then, a more traditional European depiction, we see the two fingers that Jesus often holds up in these early Christian era paintings, standing for the two natures of Christ (fully human and fully divine).

3 -And, finally, one I really like, a modern interpretation. In this painting I think the artist is trying to portray Zacchaeus the way that Jesus saw him. Not to emphasize his size or wealth, but his heart and the enthusiasm of one that would climb a tree to see Jesus. For a Biblical character whose story only occupies ten verses of the Bible, we actually know quite a lot about Zacchaeus. His most prominent features being that he is wealthy that he has gotten this way from being a tax-collector, but not just any tax-collector, but a chief taxcollector. The other tax-collectors would answer to him the chief IRS agent of the greater Jericho region. And of course, from the children s song about Zacchaeus, we might remember that a wee little man was he. Zacchaeus was not tall. I don t think it is by chance that the author Luke informs us about these elements of Zacchaeus character. Luke, who most scholars believe is the most educated and polished writer of all four gospels, places this story here towards the end of his book for a particular reason. I think the reference to his small size and great wealth are to do more than just add interesting

4 detail to our story, rather, I believe that these descriptions are included to alert the reader to some very specific things. Let s step back a minute into what has just happened in the gospel of Luke. As pastor Megan Good said a couple of weeks ago when she was teaching on Biblical interpretation, the chapter numbers and sub-headings in our Bibles can cause us to miss part of what is going on in a particular scene. When we read only what is under one sub-heading, thinking it is a stand-alone story, we can miss much of what the author is trying to do. 1. In Luke 18:15-17, just a few paragraphs before Zacchaues enters the scene, Jesus tells his disciples to let the little children come to him. He says that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. This is a lovely story, it makes us feel good about Jesus, it gives us nice pictures to put in children s Bibles, but I don t think we know exactly what to make of it. Usually we say this means we are to be innocent and accepting like children, but most of us really aren t sure how we are to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. 2. This scene is then followed up by a very difficult story, the story we have come to call the Rich Young Ruler where a wealthy young man comes and asks Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life. Eventually, Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing, that he must sell all that he owns and give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow Jesus. The young man is not willing to do this because, we are told, he was very rich. This story ends with a particularly difficult line, where Jesus says, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. We also don t quite know what to do with this story, as it does not make us feel very good as Americans. This morning I looked up where I rank among the world s wealthy, if

5 you were at the budget meeting last Sunday, you know what my salary is - I rank in the wealthiest 9% of the world. So, this story is difficult when I am willing to honestly look at how wealthy I actually am. How will I fit through the eye of the needle? Thankfully, Jesus does end the story of the Rich Young Ruler with the hopeful words, What is impossible for mortals is possible for God. So, we do leave this scene confused and uncertain, but with a bit of hope. And so, we leave these two scene in Luke chapter 18 with a couple of deep questions: 1. How are we to be receive the kingdom of God like a little child? What does this mean? 2. What are us wealthy people supposed to do? Us top ten-percenters? Well, not be coincidence, just a two paragraphs later we meet Zacchaeus who seems to resemble both of these scenes a man who, in stature, action, and circumstance seems to offer us a possible answer to the questions that chapter 18 has left us with. 1. First, the wealth. We are told that he is rich. I am no Greek scholar, but those that are tell us that the world used to describe Zacchaeus is the same word used to describe the Rich Young Ruler. Not a coincidence we are supposed to make this connection. When we hear of Zacchaeus wealth, we are to register the Rich Young Ruler we just met the one who turned away and loved his money. 2. His stature. Zacchaeus is not a child, that is clear, but he seems to have characteristics of a child. He is short, he is a wee little man not just an interesting detail but a purposeful detail we are supposed to be alert to his small stature. Not only this, but he does something that a

6 child would do, he climbs a tree. These are not the typical actions of a high-ranking government official of a senior IRS agent this man is doing something quite undignified in order that he might get just a glimpse of this Jesus he has heard so much about. Something we would call child-like. So, what we meet in Zacchaeus is not just a wonderful story, but a possible answer to our two questions: an example of how we can become like little children and how one that is wealthy just might fit through that eye of a needle. 1. Our first question: To be like a little child? We meet a man who does not seem to take himself too seriously. He is a man of means, a man with a powerful position within the government. Yet, he is willing to climb a tree, knowing what people will say. He is an adult, established, educated yet, he is still seeking to learn he has heard of this teacher Jesus and he is willing to do most anything to seek him out, to see and hear this man that he might be changed. Yes, I think in Zacchaeus we see a glimpse of what Jesus might be meaning when he tells us to be like little children not blissfully innocent but open, curious, seeking not holding onto power or prestige at all costs. 2. Our second question: The wealthy entering the kingdom? We find a curious divergence from the regular formula of such stories. A common thing that happens when Jesus breaks a social norm when he heals someone on the Sabbath, or dines with cultural outsiders (prostitutes, tax-collectors, or other sinners) is that the crowd is unhappy, the crowd grumbles. Sometimes it is the whole crowd (as in this story, he has gone to be the guest of one that is a sinner), sometimes it is the Pharisees or scribes that fill this role. And always it is

7 Jesus who responds to the murmurings of the crowd, to those unhappy with his actions. But not here, here it is Zacchaeus who responds to the crowd, who stands up for himself when the crowd starts to grumble. Brendan Byrne notes that, in the Greek reading of this story, Zacchaeus response to the crowd is said in present tense, while in most of our translations it is written in future tense. Future Tense, NRSV Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor. If I have defrauded anyone I will pay back four times as much. Present Tense, the Greek Look, half of my possession, Lord, I (already) give to the poor. If I find I have defrauded anyone I pay back four times as much. Well, what does this mean? Why might this matter? In the future tense, how we usually tell the story, it is upon meeting Jesus that Zacchaeus changes his whole life: he gives half of his wealth away, he stops cheating people he repents and turns his life around. If it is present tense, then it is not Zacchaeus who is experiencing the conversion, he is simply telling the grumbling crowd of his current practice, that though he is wealthy, his wealth does not define him: he currently gives half of his money to the poor, and that if he finds out that he has cheated anyone, he returns what he has taken with a major penalty for himself. Here then, Jesus is calling Zacchaeus out not to convert him, but to convert the crowd to give him a chance to make known his practices of giving. And, if this is the case than it is not Zacchaeus that is converted, it is the grumbling crowd, it is the group that doesn t want Jesus dining with a man who works for the Romans and

8 collects their high taxes. The crowd is forced to see beyond his label as tax-collector and actually look at the fruits of his life, actually see his life and see that he is not the man that they had always assumed he was. We cannot know this for sure, if this was said originally in present or future tense, but let us consider the possibilities of this rereading, the implications of it. In such a reading the crowd is being told, being shown: -don t assume, just because he has money that he is a bad man, that he doesn t give and give generously. -don t assume that this man is defined by his wealth. -don t assume, just because he is a chief tax-collector that he got all of this money from cheating and defrauding people; that he doesn t care for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. -don t assume that you know this man, you do not know this man. But he is one of you and should be treated as such. -don t assume because this person is a Republican -don t assume because this person is a Democrat -don t assume because this person has a disability -don t assume because this person was once in prison -don t assume because this person is wealthy -don t assume because this person drives a huge SUV -don t assume because this person is a refugee -don t assume because this person is gay

9 -don t assume because this person has no home -don t assume because this person has no citizenship documents -don t assume, because of a person s label, that you know them, because you do not. It is around the dinner table that the real Zacchaeus is revealed. It is not in his title, his wealth, or his small stature that we know him it is only in sharing a meal with him, in sitting with him that we get to know a bit of who he really is. It is only around that table that we can see him as God sees him. Amen.